Caster



(No Model.)

A D. RICHMOND.

l GASTER. No. 344,988. PatentedA Ju1y-6, 1886.

UNITED STATESA PATENT EEICE.

nENisoN'moHMoND, or sYaAoUsE, NEW Yoan.

CASTER.

ESPECIFICATIN forming part 0i' Letters Patent No. 344,988, dated July 6,1886.

Application filed May 27, 1886. Serial No. 203,876.

To aZZ whom, it 71mg/ concern:

Be it known that I, DENISON RICHMOND, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulvImprovements in Casters, of which the following, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the class of casters which have two floorrollers or wheels, and the rol1er-frame swiveled on a vertical pintle,so as to allow said frame to turn and bring the rollers in position torun in different directions. In such casters the roller-frame issubjected to more or less verticallyoscillatory movement whenthe castertravels over an uneven floor, owing to the two separate and distinctbearings afforded by the two rollers at opposite sides of the verticalpintle. Various devices have been resorted to to allow the necessaryoscillatory movement to the roller-frame and at the same time retain asuitable bearing for the top of said roller-frame, so as to confine thevertical-oscillatory movement thereof within a plane parallel with theaxis of the floorrollers. Such devices usually consisted ofanti-friction rollers pivoted to the upper part of the roller-frame,andbearing either on the usual collarsurrounding the vertical pintle abovethe frame or on the side of the said pintle; but such castersare notonly expensive to manufacture, but also subject to considerablefriction, especially when the anti-friction roller is arranged to bearon the side of the pintle, in-

asmuch as the pivots of said roller are at fixed points on the frame,and consequently as the caster-frame tilts the anti-friction roller isthrown out of contact with the vertical pintle, and the latter has toslide on a bearing provided in the frame. In fact, such anti-frictionrollers as last referred to are designed to serve only during therotation of the roller-frame in ahorizontal plane about the verticalpintle.

The object of my invention is to provide a caster which shall be simpleand comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and in which a singleantifriction roller pivoted on the vertical pintle of the caster shallbe maintained in perfect and uniform bearings on the rollerframe duringthe vertical oscillations of said frame, and the friction of thevertical pintle (No modo.)

shall be reduced-to a minimum; and to that end my invention consists inthe improved construction and combination of the componentparfs of thecaster, as hereinafter fully described, and specifically set forth inthe claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figures l and 2 are vertical transversesections of my improved caster, taken in planes, respectively, at rightangles to the axis of the floor-rollers,and par- 6o allel with saidaxis.

Similar letters of reference indica-te corresponding parts.

B B represent the two iloor rollers or wheels journaled on an axle, a,secured to the frame A, which is in the form of a yoke or housingstriding the rollers, and having the aforesaid axle extending throughthe vertical wall of said yoke.

Between the two rollers B B is the sockets, 7o formed on the /centralvertical wall of .the frame A, and in said socketis stepped the ver.tical pintle l?, which is secured in any suitable and wel1-known mannerto the base of the article to be supported by the caster.

The socket s is made laringin a plane parallel with the axes of therollers B B, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, so as to allowthe caster-frame A to freely rock in a vertical plane.

Across the top of the frame A is formed an arch, B, whose outline isdescribed from the pivotal point of the socket, and the face o f saidarch adjacent to the socket is beveled onv a line intersecting theaforesaid pivotal point, as indicated by dot-ted lines in Fig. 1 of thedrawings.

On the pintle l?, above the frame A, is journaled the horizontal rollerD, which is of the requisite diameter to abut with its peripheral 9oface against the side of the arch B, and has said face beveledcorresponding to the beveled side of the arch.

By beveling or mitering the arch B and roller D in the manner describedand shown I .effectually obviate friction between the engaging-facesthereof during the vertical oscillations ofthe frame A.

The top of the roller D is provided with a sh oulder,b, by which itabuts against the collar 10o I, which rests against the under side ofthe article to which the caster is attached. Said abutment resists theupward crowding of the roller,incidental to the engagement of thebeveled faces of said roller and arch.

The lower end of the pintle P is provided with a wide circumferentialgroove, c, and transversely through the side of the socket s and throughthe groove e passesa pin, d, which serves to couple the frame A to thepintle P.

I do not claim, broadly, the combination of a horizontal roller pivotedon the vertical pintle and bearing on an abutment on the rollerframe, asI am aware that such a combination has been embodied in a single-rollercaster in which the vertical pintle has no lateral play inthe socket,and the aforesaid horizontal roller is employed simply to relieve thepintle from friction during the horizontal rotation of.

the roller-frame on said pintle.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In combination with the two rollers R R, the frame A, formed with thesocket s between the rollers and flared in a plane parallel with theaxis of the rollers, the arch B on top of the frame A, the pintle P,stepped in the socket, and the roller D,journaled on the pintle andbearing on the arch, substantially ras describe and shown.

2. The improved duplex roller-caster, consisting of the rollers R R, theframe A,formed between said rollers, with the socket s flaring in aplane parallel with the axis of the rollers, and formed also with thearch B, `described from the pivotal point of the socket, and having theside adjacent to the socket beveled on a line intersecting the aforesaidpivotal point, the pintle I), stepped in saidsoeket, and the roller D,journaled on the pintle and having its peripheral face in contact withthe side of the arch, and beveled correspondingly, all con- 4o structedand combined substantially in the manner specified and shown.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name and axed my seal, inthe presence of two attesting witnesses, at Syracuse, in the 45 countyof Onondaga, in the State of New York, this 24th day of May, 1886.

DENIsoN RICHMOND. [n s] Witnesses:

FREDERICK H. GIBBs, C. BENDIXON.

